Tony, Rondell, and Justin
Tony Batista has been on the receiving end of a lot of negative commentary since the Twins acquired him in the off-season. Sure, the deal really looked like the team in Japan was trying to unload him, but now that we're far enough into the regular season, let's see what he's doing.
Through last night's series with the Angels, Tony is batting .286. That puts him fourth on the team with players with more than 15 at bats. Luis Castillo is the hot bat, with a .404 average. Batista's tied with Morneau, Hunter, and Castro for second place in the hits department, with 14. Shannon Stewart and Castillo are tied in first with 19 hits. Tony's fourth on the tean with 8 RBIs, behind Morneau (14), Hunter (11), and Stewart (10). He's also tied with Cuddyer and Stewart for HRs (2) behind Morneau and Hunter with four apiece. He and Morneau are tied for first place with 7 two-out RBIs. And sure, Tony's been caught stealing once and has committed 1 error. As Aaron Gleeman stated that Batista's been swinging at everything, but he has only been struck out 9 times in 49 at-bats.
To me, it looks like he's making a valuable contribution to the team. Now, let's look at Rondell White.
Prior to Thursday's game with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (yeesh), Rondell's batting average was 1 percentage point higher than Sandy Koufax's lifetime BA. What was Sandy's average? Point 098. Yep, going into last night's game RW was hitting .097. And that was up from .079! Last night, in 4 at-bats he got 2 hits and 2 RBIs, boosting his average to .127! Cue the fireworks boys, he broke the .100 barrier!
Rondell has contributed 3 runs so far this season. Lew Ford, with 33 fewer at-bats has brought in 7! White has struck out 17 times, 7 hits (one double), 4 RBI, left 10 runners in scoring position, and grounded into a team-leading 3 double plays.
I'm sorry, this guy just isn't cutting it. Gardy's had him batting cleanup most of the time, but his performance doesn't warrant it. Now that Reuben Sierra's up from extended Spring training give him the DH position. Do something!
On Justin Morneau: Justin has struck out 18 times in 57 at-bats, has 4 HRs, 12 RBIs, 14 hits, and batting .246, Looks to me like he's swinging for the fence every time. But he's connecting and productive! Rondell, take a look at Morneau, obviously he's got something working for him.
Tonight starts a nine game road trip with the first three with the divison-leading ChiSox. The Twins are three games back. They've lost 3 of 5 series so far. Now would be a good time to fix the lineup. The three best pitchers will take the mound. This season the Twins have been outscored in the first, second, fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. Since regulation games are nine innings, being outscored in five of them doesn't make for a winning record. Please get the hitting to come together. If not, the morning of the 25th will find them six games behind Chicago. That's not a good position to find yourself in near the end of the first month of the season.
Through last night's series with the Angels, Tony is batting .286. That puts him fourth on the team with players with more than 15 at bats. Luis Castillo is the hot bat, with a .404 average. Batista's tied with Morneau, Hunter, and Castro for second place in the hits department, with 14. Shannon Stewart and Castillo are tied in first with 19 hits. Tony's fourth on the tean with 8 RBIs, behind Morneau (14), Hunter (11), and Stewart (10). He's also tied with Cuddyer and Stewart for HRs (2) behind Morneau and Hunter with four apiece. He and Morneau are tied for first place with 7 two-out RBIs. And sure, Tony's been caught stealing once and has committed 1 error. As Aaron Gleeman stated that Batista's been swinging at everything, but he has only been struck out 9 times in 49 at-bats.
To me, it looks like he's making a valuable contribution to the team. Now, let's look at Rondell White.
Prior to Thursday's game with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (yeesh), Rondell's batting average was 1 percentage point higher than Sandy Koufax's lifetime BA. What was Sandy's average? Point 098. Yep, going into last night's game RW was hitting .097. And that was up from .079! Last night, in 4 at-bats he got 2 hits and 2 RBIs, boosting his average to .127! Cue the fireworks boys, he broke the .100 barrier!
Rondell has contributed 3 runs so far this season. Lew Ford, with 33 fewer at-bats has brought in 7! White has struck out 17 times, 7 hits (one double), 4 RBI, left 10 runners in scoring position, and grounded into a team-leading 3 double plays.
I'm sorry, this guy just isn't cutting it. Gardy's had him batting cleanup most of the time, but his performance doesn't warrant it. Now that Reuben Sierra's up from extended Spring training give him the DH position. Do something!
On Justin Morneau: Justin has struck out 18 times in 57 at-bats, has 4 HRs, 12 RBIs, 14 hits, and batting .246, Looks to me like he's swinging for the fence every time. But he's connecting and productive! Rondell, take a look at Morneau, obviously he's got something working for him.
Tonight starts a nine game road trip with the first three with the divison-leading ChiSox. The Twins are three games back. They've lost 3 of 5 series so far. Now would be a good time to fix the lineup. The three best pitchers will take the mound. This season the Twins have been outscored in the first, second, fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. Since regulation games are nine innings, being outscored in five of them doesn't make for a winning record. Please get the hitting to come together. If not, the morning of the 25th will find them six games behind Chicago. That's not a good position to find yourself in near the end of the first month of the season.
Comments
Sorry, but your math impaired daughter doesn't entirely understand batting averages, you'll have to sit her down and explain them to her again. I'm sure you told me when I was five or something...
Anywho, sounds like Tony is doing well. Nice to hear in simple terms the batting abilities of the Twins.